SMALLER BUT MIGHTY
Saxberg’s top 2015 concerts were not megashows
Until this fall, Ottawa was on track to having a banner year for mega-shows, with acts like Taylor Swift, Shania Twain, AC/DC and One Direction pulling in huge crowds.
But then it seemed the economy caught up to the concert industry, or maybe the weak Canadian dollar dragged it down. Whatever the reason, after the summer touring and festival season, the major concerts all but dried up.
A look back over the last 12 months shows a trend toward smaller, more intimate concerts, frequently in venues that are off the beaten path. These were some of my favourite performances of 2015:
10. Great Lake Swimmers April 17, Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield.
The Toronto-based folk-rockers fronted by Tony Dekker sounded confident and invigorated in the first of two sold-out nights at the Wakefield landmark. Fortified by powerful songs that captured their potency as a live act, the show was part of a tour celebrating this year’s superb new album, A Forest of Arms. The highlight was an impassioned acoustic take on their 2009 song, Still. With the band members clustered in the middle of the candlelit room, it was a transcendental moment that captured the camaraderie of making music.
9. Corb Lund Sept. 12, Seeley’s Bay Community Hall, Seeley’s Bay.
The Alberta singer-songwriter kicked off the Festival of Small Halls with a barnburner of a soldout show that previewed this year’s fine album, Things That Can’t Be Undone, and dusted off crowd favourites like Time To Switch to Whiskey and Truck Got Stuck. Part of what made it special was the excitement in the village. Lund and his band got a rock-star welcome from the entire community.
8. Daniel Lanois with Basia Bulat and the NAC Orchestra April 30, Southam Hall, National Arts Centre
With maestro David Martin and the NAC Orchestra, rock legend Daniel Lanois explored previously uncharted musical territory, not in the form of a greatest-hits style show made lush by many layers of instruments but a unique collaboration that bridged the worlds of modern and classical music. The program featured fascinating new compositions, reworked versions of familiar songs and even a few opportunities for Lanois and his core bandmates to flex their improvisational muscle, plus a delightful opening set by Canadian singer-songwriter Basia Bulat.
7. Gaslight Anthem
July 15, Canadian Stage, RBC Ottawa Bluesfest, LeBreton Flats In their Ottawa festival debut, the Jersey rockers trounced that night’s mainstage headliner with a landmark performance that united generations of rock fans and ended with an epic version of The Who’s Baba O’Riley. The pressure-cooker show capped off a terrific stretch of music on the riverside stage that also included two hot B.C. bands, Black Mountain and Current Swell. Instead of flitting from stage to stage, it was a rare opportunity to sit still for a few hours and take in the tunes.
6. Van Morrison, Avett Brothers, Of Monsters and Men, Wilco, Marvest and more
Sept. 16-20, CityFolk, Lansdowne Park The first edition of CityFolk, the reinvented Ottawa Folk Festival, was a smashing success artistically, chock full of fantastic performances. Despite some technical glitches, there were plenty of highlights, including shows by Van Morrison, the Avett Brothers, Of Monsters and Men, Wilco, Amy Helm, St. Paul and the Broken Bones, Passenger, the Everyone Orchestra and the innovative programming of Marvest, which featured Ottawaarea bands in unexpected venues along Bank Street.
5. Alabama Shakes with July Talk
Sept. 24, TD Place Two fast-rising bands, America’s Alabama Shakes and Canada’s July Talk, joined forces in a night of passion, the pace set by the women who front each band. The Shakes’ Brittany Howard and July Talk’s Leah Fay each have a formidable stage presence and strikingly unique voices. The combination made for an emotional roller-coaster that swooped from July Talk’s fiery intensity to the Shakes’ soulful torment. In an arena made intimate with black drapes, the sound was fantastic and everyone was able to feel the vibe.
4. Kalle Mattson
Nov. 5, Fourth Stage, National Arts Centre In front of a rapt audience in the cosy, candlelit confines of the Fourth Stage, the Ottawa-based musician with the distinctively fragile voice found a balance between conveying the emotional wreckage of his songs and playing the part of an engaging frontman. His demeanour during the full-band performance hinted at a new measure of confidence, the impression solidified by his stripped-down cover of Drake’s Hotline Bling and a powerful new song, Astronaut, inspired by his grandmother.
3. Neat in the Woods Festival
Sept. 26, Burnstown, Ont. With a Saturday program that featured The Trews, Blackie and the Rodeo Kings, Matt Andersen, MonkeyJunk, the Sadies, Ben Caplan and the Casual Smokers and Silver Creek, the inaugural Neat fest brought together a solid, though male-dominated, lineup of familiar Canadian artists. Surprises were not anticipated. However, each act rose to the occasion with a performance that was above and beyond their regular level of passion, highlighted by a glorious jam involving Andersen, Blackie’s Colin Linden and MonkeyJunk harpman Steve Marriner. Wow.
2. Fiftymen & John Carroll
Nov. 6, Black Sheep Inn, Wakefield An Ottawa institution came to an end after 16 years when the Fiftymen played two farewell shows at the Sheep. With their punchy songs and terrific playing, the beloved roots-rockers made country cool for a generation of live-music fans in the nation’s capital. To say goodbye, they mounted a pair of marathon shows that included all their hits, plus well-chosen covers like the Stones’ Last Time. Preceded by a solo opening set by another legendary Ottawan, John Carroll, it was a night that no one wanted to end.
1. Hey Rosetta with Yukon Blonde
Nov. 22, Southam Hall, National Arts Centre Newfoundland’s orchestral rockers played three big shows in Ottawa this year. I’m sure all of them were good, but Nov. 22 was spectacular. In the setting of Southam Hall, you could hear every nuance of the music made by Tim Baker and his talented bandmates, including the memorable moment when both bands (Hey Rosetta and openers Yukon Blonde) gathered on stage to sing their pre-election song, Land You Love, turning it into a celebration of freedom and democracy. (Honourary mentions: Patrick Watson at Black Sheep; Lynne Hanson at Greenfield’s Pub; Birdie Whyte and Noisy Locomotive at Kaffe 1870; Braids, Sadies and New Swears at Arboretum Festival; Tom Cochrane at NAC Southam Hall; Dan Mangan at NAC Theatre; Pretty Archie at Irene’s Pub; Sadies at North on 29.)